Bat and tine construction for a harvester reel

ABSTRACT

A plurality of tubular bat blade sections are interconnected by journal sections having end portions which extend into the end portions of the bat sections. Crank sections at the two ends of the bat include end portions which extend into the outer ends of the two outer bat blade sections. The bat blade sections are tapered from top to bottom. Lower portions of the bat blade sections are received in mounting channels provided at upper ends of molded plastic tines. These tines may carry buttons which snap into mounting openings formed in side wall portions of the bat sections.

United States Patent 1 Neal et al. Mar. 12, 1974 BAT AND TINECONSTRUCTION FOR A 3,613,346 10/1971 Hubbard 56/400 3,626,678 12 1971Quam 56/400 HARVESTER REEL Inventors: Archie E. Neal; Donald R.

Gradwohl, both of Garfield, Wash.

[73] Assignee: J. E. Love Company, Garfield,

Wash.

[22] Filed: Oct. 16, 1972 [2]] Appl. No.: 297,882

[52] US. Cl. 56/220, 56/400 [51] Int. Cl A01d 57/02 [58] Field of Search56/219-221, 56/400, 227

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,561,198 2/1971 Herbsthofer56/221 X 3,232,035 2/1966 Vissers 2,909,889 10/1959 Gustafson 56/400Primary ExaminerLouis G. Mancene Assistant ExaminerJ. N. EskovitzAttorney, Agent, or FirmDelbert J. Barnard 5 7] ABSTRACT A plurality oftubular bat blade sections are interconnected by journal sections havingend portions which extend into the end portions of the bat sections.Crank sections at the two ends of the bat include end portions whichextend into the outer ends of the two outer bat blade sections. Thebatblade sections are tapered from top to bottom. Lower portions of thebat blade sections are received in mounting channels provided at upperends of molded plastic tines. These tines may carry buttons which-snapinto mounting openings formed in side wall portions of the bat sections;

6 Claims, .14 Drawing Figures PAIENTEUIAR I2 1914 SHEET 1 0F 2 BAT ANDTINE CONSTRUCTION FOR A HARVESTER REEL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONlength of the harvester reel and a plurality of bat boards ofrectangular configuration which are secured to the rod and dependtherefrom. The rod is supported for rotation at its ends and at thelocations between the bat boards. The bats are driven by an essentricdrive mechanism which operates to maintain the boards in a substantiallyvertically attitude during reel rotation. Examples of these essentricmechanisms are disclosed by the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,497,729and 3,145,520, and also by US. application Ser. No. 077,132, filed onOct. 1, 1970, by the Assignee of the present application, the inventorsbeing Donald R. Gradwohl and Archie E. Neal.

The most widely used conventional pick-up tines are formed from wire andthey are carried by the bat boards. The aforementioned US. Pat. No.3,613,346 discloses the use of molded plastic tines which are carried byelongated bat rods.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The harvester reel bats of this invention areof composite construction. They comprise a plurality of cast and tubularsections connected together end-to-end. The cast sections comprise apair of crank sections which are at the two ends of the bat and whichcarry the outer journals of the bat. The remaining cast sections areintermediate journal sections serving also as connector membersfor'interconnecting the tubular bat blade sections. An advantage of thisconstruction is that the cast sections are usable with any length ofreel. Length variances between bats of different length reels can beneatly provided by varying only the lengths (and possibly the number) ofthe several bat blade sections.

According to the invention, the bat blade sections taper from theirupper to their lower edges. This provides the bat sections with thinlower edges which enter better into the crop being harvested, and causeless damage to the crop, than conventional bat boards having wide, bluntlower edges.

According to the invention, the tines are constructed from a suitablestructural plastic, e.g. nylon. They inv clude upper mounting portionswhich snap into place at stations along the lower edge of the batsections. Preferably, such tines include mounting channesl which snuglyengage lower portions of the bat blade sections and a suitable fastenerfor securing the tines to the batblade sections.

These and other more specific details of the composite harvester reelbat and pick-up tines of this invention are presented below in thedetailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary elevationalview looking towards one side of an end portion of the harvester reelbat of the present invention;

. FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the crank section at such one endof the harvester reel bat;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the crank section taken from the sameaspect as FIG. 1;

' FIG. 4 is a view similar to. FIG. 3, but of a journal section of thebat;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIG. 3;c

FIG. 6 is an inner end elevational view of the crank section of the bat,taken from the'aspect of line 66 in FIG. 3; I

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 77 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8--8 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified bat blade sectionwith a tine shown in spaced relationship thereto;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken through the bat blade section ofFIG. 9 showing the tine in side elevation;

FIG. 11 is a view like FIG. 9, but showing the tine connected to the batblade section;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary elevational view looking towards the trailingside of the tine;

FIG. 13 is a viewv like FIG. 12 but looking towards the leading side ofthe tine; and

FIG. 14 is a reduced scale elevational scale of a twotine memberattached to a bat blade section.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The composite harvester reel batof the present invention comprises a pair of crank end sections, one ofwhich is shown and is designated 10 (FIGS. 1 and 2), a plurality ofblade sections 12, and a plurality of journal sections 14 which arebetween and interconnect the blade sections 12. The second crank section(not shown) at the opposite end of the bat is like section 10 butoppositely directed. The number of blade and journal sections 12, 14 isvariable and is dependent upon the length and style of the harvesterreel.

As shown by FIGS. 1 and 3, the crank section 10 comprises a pin portion16 composed of a cylindrical body from which a pair of tapered endpieces 18 de-' pend. The pin 16 is sized to be snuggly received withinthe hollow interior of the bat blade section 12. A flange 20 limits theentry'of the members 16, 18 into the bat blade section 12 and alsoprovides one end boundary for a journal 22. The othe r end boundary ofthe journal 22 is provided by the'base portion 24 of a crank arm 26. Theend of crank arm 26 opposite portion 24 is provided with a throughopening 28 for receiving a connector used to connect such end of thecrank arm 26 to a portion of an eccentric drive mechanism (not shown).Reference is made to the aforementioned ap- As shown by FIG. 3, theleading end portion 32 of the inner member 18 may be beveled so that itcan be easily started into the bat blade section 12. Preferably, themembers 16, 18 are sized so that they make a rather tight frictional fitwith the interior wall of the bat blade section 12.

Referring now to FIG. 4 and 7, the journal sections 14 comprise acentral journal 34 bounded at each end by a flange 36. A pin portion 38is disposed endwise outwardly of each flange 36. Each pin portion 38 issized to be snuggly received within an end portion of a bat bladesection 12. Preferably the fit is tight enough so that the pin section38 makes a snug frictional engagement with the inner wall of the batblade section 12. Pin sections 38 also include beveled end portions forstarting .them into sections 12.

The members 16, 18, 38 are retained within the bat blade section 12 bysuitable connectors. By way of typical and therefor non-limitiveexample, this securement may be done by means of one or more cross pins30 which extend through both the blade section 12 and members 16, 18 or38.

When the bat is on a harvester reel suitable journal boxes carried bythe reels surroundingly engage the journal 34. Preferably, the crank andjournal sections 10, 14 are made by casting them from a suitable metal.The blade sections 12 may be formed from bent sheet metal which is seamwelded along the lower edges 42 of the sections 12, where the two partsof thesheet metal panels forming the sections 12 come together (FIG. 8).Alternatively, the hollow bat blades section 12 may be formed by anextrusion process (FIGS. 9-11).

During use the pick-up reel rotates forwardly at its top and rearwardlyat its bottom. Each bat carries a plurality of tines T which enter intothe fallen crop and effect comb" the crop upwardly and rearwardly into acutter mechanism which severs the crop near the ground. The tines andbats then sweep the severed crop rearwardly into a collection portion ofthe harvester. The direction of tine movement is indicated by the arrow44 in FIG. 10. An advantageous feature of the bat construction of thisinvention is that the bat has a thin lower edge which enter into thecrop better than a relatively thick blunt edge. As a result, each batmakesless lay-over contact with the crop than conventional batsresulting in less crop loss.

Preferably, the tines T are molded from a suitable structural plastic,e.g. nylon. The tine body 46 may comprise a thin web portion 48 andfront and rear flange portions 50, giving the time body 46 an I-beamcross-sectional shape. The upper end of each tine may comprise amounting channel 52 defined by front and rear walls 54, 56. As bestshown by FIG. 10, the mounting channel 52 is sized to snuggly receive alower portion of the bat blade section 12. It may be said that themounting channel and the bat section 12 have complementarycross-sectional configurations. The lower portions of walls 54, 56 areparallel to each other and receive the lower lip portion 58 of the batsection 12 which has parallel sides. The upper portions of walls 54, 56flare apart to receive the upwardly diverging walls 60, 62 of the batsection 12'.

In the embodiment shown by FIGS. 9-l3, the mounting channel 52 iselongated laterally of the tine web 58. The walls 54, 56 defining thechannels 52 extend laterally from the web 48 on both sides of such web48 (see FIGS. 12 & 13). This makes it possible to secure the tine T tothe bat section 12 by the means of but a single point fastener such as abutton 64 insertable into a button opening66 formed in a side wall 62 ofbat section 12. The button and holes 64, 68 physically connect the tineT to the bat section 12'. The snug fit of the lower portion of the batsection 12' into the mounting channel 52 prevents rotation of the tine Tin the front and rear directions. The elongation of the mounting channel52 longitudinally of the bat blade section 12 prevents sideways rotationof the tine T. The button 64 is provided on the rear wall 56 so thatduring tine movement it is forced into the opening 66. As the tine T ismoved through the crop in the direction of arrow 44 the forces exertedon the lower portion of the tine T by the crop tend to rotate the tinesT rearwardly. This in turn causes a forward rotational tendency of thewall 56, resulting in the button 64 tending to be moved into rather thanout from the opening 66.

According to the invention, a plurality of tines may be connectedtogether and be on a common base. By way of typical and therefornon-limitive example, in FIG. 14 a pair of tines T are shown connectedto a common mounting base 68. The base 68 comprises front and rearmounting channel forming walls which are similar to walls 54, 56 in theembodiment of FIGS. 9-43. In the embodiment of FIG. 14 the wide spacingof the mounting channels of the tines T provides bracing againstsideways rotation .of the tines T, again making it possible to use asingle fastener, such as a single button 66.

Of course, it is to be understood that other forms of fasteners may beused in place of the button and hole arrangement 64, 66 that isillustrated. For example, a more positive fastener like a nut-and-boltassembly might be used.

The construction of the bat sections 12, and the mounting structure forthe preferred embodiments of the tines T, T, make installation of thetines T, T onto the bat sections 12 both fast and easy. A tine T or Tneed only be moved towards the lower edge portion 58 of the bat section12 or 12', with the button 64 being directed towards the mounting hole66 for such tine and the lower edge 58 being moved relatively into thechannel section 52. During such relative movement the button 64 willslide along wall 62 until it reaches the opening 66 and then it willsnap into the opening 66.

In one foregoing specification the illustrated embodiments, theinvention has been described for the purpose of making a completedisclosure of the invention. As will be apparent to those skilled in theart, numerous constructional changes may be made in the bats and tineswithout departing from the spirit and principles of the invention. The.scope of the invention is not to be determined by suchdetaileddescription but rather only by the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:

l. A harvester reel bat comprising: a plurality of tubular bat bladesections interconnected by journal sections having end portions whichproject into the opposite ends of the tubular sections, and cranksections at each end of said bat having inner end portions which extendinto outer end portions of the outer bat blade sections, said crank andjournal sections having journals thereon, and said crank sections havingcrank arm portions situated endwise outwardly of their journal portions,each said journal section comprising a central journal portion, flangesat the ends of the journal portion, and pin portions which projectendwise outwardly from the flanges, such pin portions being sized to besnugly received within the hollow bat blade sections.

2. A harvester reel bat according to claim 1, wherein the tubular batblade sections taper as they extend downwardly from their upper to theirlower edges.

3. A harvester reel bat according to claim 2, wherein the bat bladesections are formed from formed panels of sheet metal having lower edgeportions which come together and which are secured together along thelower edge of the bat blade sections.

4. A harvester reel bat according to claim 1, wherein the bat bladesections taper from their upper to their lower edges and the pinportions of the journal sections also taper as they extend downwardlyfrom their upper towards their lower edges.

5. A harvester reel bat blade having a relatively wide upper edgeportion, and decreasing in thickness from its upper edge down to itslower edge portion, and terminating in a relatively thin lower edgeportion which leads the bat blade into the crop being harvested; atleast one pick-up tine having an upper mounting portion including amounting channel snugly embracing a lower portion of the bat blade; andmeans for securing a wall of such channel to said bat blade comprisingan inwardly directed button on a side wall of the mounting channel and areceiving opening in a side wall of the bat blade.

6. A harvester reel bat according to claim 5, wherein each wall formingthe mounting channel is of sufficient length longitudinally at the batblade section, so that a single fastener point may exist between a walland a side wall portion ofthe bat blade section and the tight fit of thebat blade section into the mounting channel will prevent sidewayspivotal movement of the tine during harvesting.

1. A harvester reel bat comprising: a plurality of tubular bat bladesections interconnected by journal sections having end portions whichproject into the opposite ends of the tubular sections, and cranksections at each end of said bat having inner end portions which extendinto outer end portions of the outer bat blade sections, said crank andjournal sections having journals thereon, and said crank sections havingcrank arm portions situated endwise outwardly of their journal portions,each said journal section comprising a central journal portion, flangesat the ends of the journal portion, and pin portions which projectendwise outwardly from the flanges, such pin portions being sized to besnugly received within the hollow bat blade sections.
 2. A harvesterreel bat according to claim 1, wherein the tubular bat blade sectionstaper as they extend downwardly from their upper to their lower edges.3. A harvester reel bat according to claim 2, wherein the bat bladesections are formed from formed panels of sheet metal having lower edgeportions which come together and which are secured together along thelower edge of the bat blade sections.
 4. A harvester reel bat accordingto claim 1, wherein the bat blade sections taper from their upper totheir lower edges and the pin portions of the journal sections alsotaper as they extend downwardly from their upper towards their loweredges.
 5. A harvester reel bat blade having a relatively wide upper edgeportion, and decreasing in thickness from its upper edge down to itslower edge portion, and terminating in a relatively thin lower edgeportion which leads the bat blade into the crop being harvested; atleast one pick-up tine having an upper mounting portion including amounting channel snugly embracing a lower portion of the bat blade; andmeans for securing a wall of such channel to said bat blade comprisingan inwardly directed button on a side wall of the mounting channel and areceiving opening in a side wall of the bat blade.
 6. A harvester reelbat according to claim 5, wherein each wall forming the mounting channelis of sufficient length longitudinally at the bat blade section, so thata single fastener point may exist between a wall and a side wall portionof the bat blade section and the tight fit of the bat blade section intothe mounting channel will prevent sideways pivotal movement of the tineduring harvesting.